A GANG of men made by Amanda Smith hundreds of thousands of pounds selling illegal cigarettes from laundry bags and suitcases at a Bolton car boot sale.

The four evaded nearly £100,000 in excise duty — and investigators believe they could have made up to £400,000 from their dodgy dealings.

HM Revenue and Customs officers seized 46,980 cigarettes and 51.7 kilos of tobacco after searching the four men and their homes.

They were secretly filmed by officers while selling the cheap products at Lever Street Market between March and July last year.

Yesterday the four men — Omar Mohammed Omar, Enver Batkitar, Shawkat Sidiq, and Sabah Abdul Majid — were given suspended prison sentences when they appeared at Manchester Crown Court.

Mike O’Grady, assistant director of Revenue and Customs Criminal Investigation, said: “We watched the gang moving large quantities of cigarettes between vehicles, which they then sold quite blatantly to the public from the pavement out of large laundry bags.

“When we searched their vehicles and homes we seized nearly 47,000 cigarettes and 52 kilos of hand-rolling tobacco.

“With an estimated £2 billion in revenue being drained from public funds each year by tobacco smugglers alone, the problem of excise fraud effects us all.

“Low cost tobacco products can often seem like an attractive offer to local people.

“However, these sales are unlicensed and unregulated and those involved are not concerned if they are selling to children and underage young people. With expertly-crafted packaging it is almost impossible to spot whether the cigarettes are counterfeit.“ Bolton Trading Standards also took part in the operation.

Richard Lindley, from the organisation, said: “We are concerned about counterfeit cigarettes because when buying them from a market such as Lever Street the customer does not know if they are genuine.

“They could have been made in unhygienic conditions and could be more dangerous than those bought from a shop.

“They are attractive because they are cheap but there is a national campaign to raise awareness about this. We will continue to carry out raids at the site later in the year.”

The four men were charged with being knowingly concerned in the fraudulent evasion of excise duty between the March 29 and July 19, 2009, with regards to a quantity of cigarettes and hand rolling tobacco.

Omar, aged 36, an Iraqi national of Roxalina Street, Great Lever, was the organiser and leader of the illegal trading. He was jailed for eight months, suspended for two years. Omar divided the profits between the gang members.

Enver Batkitar, aged 29, a Turkish national of Crescent Road, Great Lever, was the gang’s market salesman and was jailed for seven months, suspended for two years.

Shawkat Sidiq, aged 39, an Iraqi national of Tildsley Street, Great Lever, was another key organiser who helped Omar split the profits. He was jailed for 40 weeks, suspended for two years.

Sabah Abdul Majid, aged 35, an Iraqi national also of Crescent Road, was the gang’s “muscle”

or henchman, the court was told. He was jailed for seven months suspended for two years. They were ordered to complete 150 hours unpaid work and face a confiscation hearing under Proceeds of Crime Act.